Permutation lock



Filed Jan. 17, 1935 Hi6 ATTORNEY UNITED STAT Patented July 9, 19 35 PERMUTATION Look Carl Rapp, Brooklyn, Y. Application January 17,,ios5,seria1 No. 2,209

9 Claims. ((1. 70-53) My invention relates to keyless locks, and in particular to permutation locks, and is adapted for application to-brief-cases, overnight bags,

. secure the same to the article.

suitcases and like outfits, the usualclasp being applied to the flap or cover while the lock proper is secured to the body of the article. Again, my lock may be made in such sizes as to be adapted for otheruses, such as closets and small trunks,

etc.

The invention comprises an improved permutation lock, and one object of the invention is to provide a-simple, strong, efficient and practical device of this character that is adaptedto be used on small bags which require a lock. The lock is so constructed that the various parts, may be assembled and placed in position and made secure tothe article without other fasteners which The lock secures the contents while being checkedor in the hands of the porter. 1

The prime object of the invention is to provide a lock that may be readily opened and closed without the use of a key or other device for opening the lock, yet such lock holding the contents of the article safe and secure. In the illustration, thecatch is shown asbeing of one piece T-shaped, but it may be advantageous and desirable in some instances, such as with suitcases and overnight bags, to have the part spring hinged; so that as soon as the bolt releases thecatch, the same will fly open and back on itself soa s to be out of the way. In all stiffened bags, it may be even preferable to have it so made, but .for use on brief-cases,.it is preferable to have the .T-

shaped clasp in one piece as shown on the illustration. As has been noted, the lock may be made for heavier duty, for instance, on closets and such light doors, in such places as it would contain household things and be secure when locked, but at the same time han-dy and easily opened. p V I, 7

With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention resides in the novelarrangement and combination hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that changesin'the precise embodiment of the invention herein :disclosed may be made within the scope ofwhat is claimed without departing from-the scope of the invention.

Other objects and advantages of myinvention will be apparent as it is'better understood by refence to the following specification when read in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which: Fig. 1 is a face view of my invention as it would appear on a brief-case, overnight orfother bag; Fig.2.is a detached rearview of the locking member; 3 is aview of the inside, with the cover shown in dotted lines, with the hub of the lower left-hand ,cog wheel in section, and the lower central cog wheel and its hub omitted for clearness, both of these cog wheels being indi,--

cated in outline in broken lines; Fig. 4 is a detached. detail sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3; Fig. Sis a like section showing how the member may assume a locked position, andFig. fi 'shows my invention applied to an overnight bag.

Referring to Figs. 1, 2 and 3, it will be seen thatthe base plate H! is provided with upwardly extending flanges i I, over which the cover snugly fits, andsaidbase plate is provided with a pluralitytof upwardly extending projections l2, l3 :and N, which extend upwardly and cooperate with slots 15, I6 and H in the bolt plate l8 that reciprocates'back and forth onthe base plate, while at'the upper part of said plate the projectionsnlS and 20 extend through elongated inclined slots 2i! and 22, which slots are parallel withthe slots :I5, [-6 and N, above referred to. The bolt plate 18 houses the hubs of three wheels 23, 2-4 and 25, while the hub of each wheel is provi'ded with suitable slots 21, 28 and 29. When the combinationhas been properly applied to the lock the slots in the plate I8 and the slots in the hubs of the wheels will be in proper alinement for the withdrawing of the bolt 3| from the, clasp; otherwise the hubs will be asshown in Fig. 3, wherein it will be seen how impossible it. would be to operate the bolt 3!. The bolt plate 3 for convenienceof operation is provided with a thumb member 30, while its opposite end is provided with the locking. bolt, 31.. A spring 32 causes the bolt plate :I 8 to remain in the forward or locked position. Said plateon its lower edge has downwardly extending fingers 33, 34 and 35, which slimit 'theforward movement of the plate I8.

The base plate to has openings in the plate :whi'chihouse the hubs of cogs 36, 3] and '38. Said iuibs areprovidedwith teeth 39, into which a depressedspring finger 43 of a curved springM fits and holds the respective wheel to any combination that may be desired. Any member may used for theicombinatlon, and when the proper members appear through the windows l2,'al1 that is necessary tor the operator to open ,the receptacle is to withuzlrzwv the finger member 38, whereupon; as has been stated, all the parts being in alinement, the bolt 34 will :become detached-from the catch and receptacle rreadytto be opened. v.i ls-shown in Fig, 2, the face plate lilv is proand 25.

vided with a depending edge 40' which entirely encloses the base plate, and as shown in Figure l, is also provided with a slot M for the catch H to protrude through, while to the right of said slot are three windows 42 which outline the particular members, as shown; the lock is set for 642, and if this is the proper combination, all that is necessary to open the lock is to withdraw the finger member 30 to the right and the same will open. To close or open the lock, it is necessary to operate the cogs 36, 31 and 38; by moving the protruding teeth that extend below the lower edge of the face plate 40. It is, of course, necessary to apply sufficient force to overcome the spring action of spring 44 and to effect relative sliding movement between notch 43 and teeth 39. As before noted, when the several wheels have been turned to the selected combination the slots in the hubs of wheels 23, 24 and 25 will be in -line with the projections I5, I6 and II, as they appear in Fig. 2 (which is the reverse or under side). Thus it will be seen thata'very secure and reliable lock may be provided, yet the same may be opened by the proper person knowing the combination in the shortest possible time, with all convenience and haste.

Again, it may be desired .tochange the existing combination (642) to some other more desirable one. To do so, the various parts of the lock must be in the position as shown in Fig. 2. I That is to say, that the slots 21, 28 and 29 in the hubs of wheels 23, 24 and 25 must be in alignment with the projections I2, I3 and I4. The withdrawing of the thumb member 30, the wheels 23, 24 and 25 are withdrawn from meshing with the wheels 36, 31 and 38. The latter being now free may be turned so as to again set some new combination; when this has been done, the thumb member is released and the wheels 23, 24 and 25 again allowed to mesh with wheels 36, 31 and 38, presenting the new combination. Thus it will be seen that with the arrangement as shown, the combination may be from 1 to 1000. Yet by the enlargement of the lock so as to accommodate another pair of wheels, the combination may be from 1 to 10,000. The changing of the combination is very simple, and thus may be changed at any time for any reason and yet be prefectly safe. r

I have shown. the projections I2, I3 and I4 struck up from the bottom of the base plate I0, although they may be afiixed in position in any other manner. So too, I have also struck up the projections I9 and 20 from the base plate. Again, by striking up the opening for the hubs of wheels 35, 31 and 38, I provide an additional bearing 45 for the wheels, as well as bringing them to proper cooperation with wheels 23, 24, In this turned up bearing 45,-I provide a recess so as to allow the finger 43 of the spring 44 to snap into the teeth 39 and thereby hold the wheel against accidental movement.

Thus it will be seen that when the wheels have registered the desired numbers through the windows, the operator draws the thumb member to the right and thereby releases the catch, .the bolt plate moving rearwardly and upwardly by reason of the various slots 2I, 22, I5, I6 and II, :also by reason of the slots 21, 28 and 29 in the hubs of the wheels 23, 24 and 25 being coincidentwith the projections I5, I6 and-I1 which permits the bolt plate I8 to be withdrawn. .As noted, should any one of the several slots be not in alinement with the projections, the bolt plate cannot be moved. It is absolutely essential that the parts be in their proper position for the various cooperating parts to perform their functions.

As shown in Fig. 4, the base plate I0 is shown with the upturned flange 45 into which the toothed hub 39 of the wheel 36 fits, and the finger 43 of. the spring 44 to fit into one of the teeth of the wheel which releasably locks them in any desired position. By reason of my method of making the parts I2, I3, I4, I9 and 20 a part of the base plate II cooperate with the adjacent bolt plate I8, it thereby avoids the necessity of extra parts. Likewise, as has been noted, the upturned flange 45 also does away with an extra part for holding the wheels 36, 31 and 38 in a stationary position. It will be noted that when the bolt plate I8 is forced to the right, the two sets of wheels become disengaged, but the spring fingers 43 hold the lower set in place so that when the thumb member 30 is released the two sets of wheels return again to cooperative working position. I

The lock is neat, small and easily assembled and placed on any particular receptacle with no visible means of attachment, making it a very attractive and safe lock for the particular purpose.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

l. A permutation lock of the character described comprising a locking catch including a central body, a manually operable trigger at one end of said body, and a latch-engaging finger at the other end of said body, said body comprising a non-rotatable portion and a rotatable portion, a multl-part slot having one part thereof in each of said portions, said catch being movable only when said rotatable portion is so positioned relative to said non-rotatable portion that said slot parts are juxtaposed and in alinement.

2. A permutation lock of the character described comprising a catch member, a casing substantially enclosing said catch member, a manually operable trigger at one end of said member projecting from said casing, a latch-engaging finger at the other end of said body, said body comprising a non-rotatable portion and a plurality of rotatable portions mounted thereon, said non-rotatable portion being provided with a slot adjacent to each of said rotatable portions, said rotatable portions being each provided with a slot adapted to be alined with the corresponding slot of the non-rotatable portion to form an extension thereof, said catch member being movable only when said several slots are in alinement, and means extending from said casing for effecting rotation of said rotatable portions in predetermined manner.

3. A permutation lock of the character described comprising a casing, a guide member extending from said casing wall, a catch slidably mounted in said casing and having a slot adapted to receive said guide member, said slot being substantially coextensive with said guide member, and means movably mounted on said catch and having a slot adapted to be alined with said firstnamed slot to form an extension thereof when said means is in predetermined position, wherebysliding movement of said catch is possible only when said slots are alined.

4. A permutation lock of the character described comprising a'casing, a catch member arranged in said casing, said catch member being provided with a multi-part slot, a finger extending from said casing into said slot, a gear member rotatably mounted on said catch member, one

having a hub portion, the slot of said rotatable portion being arranged in said hub portion, and means adapted to coact with said rotatable portion to eifect stepwise movement thereof.

6. The construction defined in claim 3, wherein said first-named slotis arranged obliquely to the longitudinal axis of said catch, and supplemen tary means for guiding the sliding movement of the catch and comprising guide slots disposedin parallel relationship with said first-named slot.

'7. A permutation lock of the character described comprising-a casing, a catch member arranged in said casing, said catch member being provided with a plurality of spaced journal ope-nings, a slot extending obliquely into the body of said catch member from each of said openings, a

gear member journaled in each of said openings and. provided with a slot adapted to be alined with and to form an extension of the corresponding body slot when said gear member is in predetermined position, a plurality of fingers extending from said casing and normally severally received in one of said body slots, and manually operable indicia-bearing means extending to the exterior of the casing for moving said gear members to said predetermined positions.

8. The construction defined in claim 7, spring means acting on said catch and tending to retain said fingers in the corresponding body slots, relative movement of said fingers from said body slots into said gear slots against the action of said spring means being possible only when said gear members are in said predetermined positions.

9. The construction defined in claim '7, said last-named means consisting of a plurality of gear members mounted for rotation only in said casing.

CARL RAPP. 

